The Library’s Centre for Heritage Imaging and Collection Care (CHICC) has been awarded the contract to digitise the vast archive of Cardinal John Henry Newman, one of the most important Christian writers and thinkers of the past 200 years. The three-year project is a collaboration between CHICC, the Pittsburg-based National Institute for Newman Studies and Birmingham Oratory. The entire archive will be digitised in Manchester, using top of the range Phase One IQ180 cameras, a custom-built cradle and bespoke support systems.

The documents, thought to number around 200,000, will then be re-housed at the Birmingham Oratory in custom-made boxes, produced by the Library’s Collection Care team.